Brazil Rules Out “Aggressive Action” on the Border With Venezuela

Brazil continues with the preparations for sending, from this Saturday (23), 22 tons of milk powder and 500 kits of first aid to the neighboring country

The Brazilian government dismissed an “aggressive action“ on the border with Venezuela on Friday after Venezuelan President NicolasMaduro closed the border between the two countries to prevent the arrival of humanitarian aid.

“We have to wait for the development of the events. What is already established is that Brazil will not do any aggressive action,“ General AugustoHelenoRibeiro, minister of the Institutional Security Office, told reporters.

Brazil continues preparations to send 22 tons of powdered milk and 500 first aid kits to the neighboring country starting Saturday (23), despite the closure of the frontier decreed by Maduro the day before.

A first Brazilian Air Force plane arrived in the state of Roraima this morning, from where it is intended to transfer humanitarian aid items to the neighboring country.

According to Heleno, “for now everything is calm“ in Roraima, which was the main gateway to the thousands of Venezuelans who in recent years have fled the political, economic and social crisis that plagues their country.

However, on the other side of the border, a confrontation between the Venezuelan Armed Forces and members of an indigenous community left at least two dead and 15 wounded, three of them in serious condition in the Venezuelan state of Bolivar.

On the Brazilian side, Heleno announced that the Bolsonaro government is creating a “crisis cabinet“ to evaluate the economic effects that can be felt by the closing of the border in Roraima.

“We are creating a crisis office to analyze possible damage to Roraima and Venezuelans in Brazil,“ said Heleno.

Roraima will house one of the humanitarian aid storage centers that Venezuela’s National Assembly leader Juan Guaido, who has proclaimed himself president of that country, intends to bring into Venezuela from next Saturday.

However, Maduro ordered Thursday to close the border with Brazil and the islands of the Netherlands, including Curacao, while analyzing the same with the passage to Colombia, where is another of the storage centers.

Subsequently, Guaido, which has the support of Bolsonaro, demanded the opening of the border with Brazil.

On the other hand, the governor of Roraima, Antonio Denarium, said on Thursday to“AgenciaBrasil“ that he looks for alternatives to ensure that the medicines and food collected by the Brazilian Executive arrive in Venezuela.